Yes, these scandals are putting some corporate counsel on the hot seat, but the scandals also raise the question, "Where were the lawyers?" That's a topic that's not been covered thus far. This article in today's Washington Post, Silicon Valley's Golden Past Tarnished, quotes one defense attorney who suggests that many of the Silicon Valley companies now in trouble "lacked in-house
accounting and legal expertise." But these days, these same companies are served by blue-chip firms and experienced in-house counsel. Shouldn't that lead to a reduction in corporate scandal?

Are today's newest corporate scandals caused by added complexity of laws governing corporations and the increased criminalization of corporate conduct? Or has the legal profession grown so competitive that lawyers will banish the word no from their vocabularies to retain their corporate clients? And are GCs hiring outside counsel with "brand recognition," without engaging in due diligence to determine whether those outside lawyers best serve the corporate client.

We can agree with Henning's conclusion that times are tough for GCs today. The more interesting issue is whether the GCs themselves are to blame.

Yes, these scandals are putting some corporate counsel on the hot seat, but the scandals also raise the question, "Where were the lawyers?" That's a topic that's not been covered thus far. This article in today's Washington Post, Silicon Valley's Golden Past Tarnished, quotes one defense attorney who suggests that many of the Silicon Valley companies now in trouble "lacked in-house
accounting and legal expertise." But these days, these same companies are served by blue-chip firms and experienced in-house counsel. Shouldn't that lead to a reduction in corporate scandal?

Are today's newest corporate scandals caused by added complexity of laws governing corporations and the increased criminalization of corporate conduct? Or has the legal profession grown so competitive that lawyers will banish the word no from their vocabularies to retain their corporate clients? And are GCs hiring outside counsel with "brand recognition," without engaging in due diligence to determine whether those outside lawyers best serve the corporate client.

We can agree with Henning's conclusion that times are tough for GCs today. The more interesting issue is whether the GCs themselves are to blame.